Clinton varsity football players found a cool patch of grass in an end zone Friday night and settled in after scoring 43 first-half points. Pretty satisfying first game of the season work, right?
They figured their coach would compliment them on, basically, putting the game out of reach for the opponent. Red Devil Football Head Coach Corey Fountain had another unmistakable message, however, bellowing, “Keep a cool head.”
About 300 yards of offense wasn’t on his mind – 95 yards of penalties were on his mind. His message came across so well that Clinton got ONE flag in the second half of Friday night’s 50-28 win at Batesburg-Leesville’s Panthers’ Den.
Postgame, he called the season-opening win “sloppy.”
“First half I thought we were the nail and they were the hammer. We started blocking a little better, executing better, there were so many times in the first half where guys did their jobs. The score is what it is, but we’ve got a lot to get better. Preparing for next week we have to be more disciplined, we have to cut out all these penalties. It was so sloppy, the whole game was so sloppy (and) that was kind of disappointing. We’ve got to execute better at practice and execute better in the game. The backups, when they get a chance in the game they’ve got to step up as well. We’ve just got to get better.”
Batesburg-Leesville executed for 328 yards against the Clinton defense, most coming when reserves played throughout the second half, giving almost everybody valuable in-game experience. The Panthers scored their final touchdown as the game clock reached 1 second left to play.
But, by then, the damage was done, as 7 Red Devils scored touchdowns in the first half. DJ Clark’s 55-yard scoring run on the first play of the second half made the Clinton lead 43 points – by rule, from then on out, the game was played with a running clock.
The Panthers, coached by former Laurens mentor Greg Lawson, never gave up, with 21 second half points to make the score respectable.
Clinton ran 40 plays to gain 390 yards. Kason Copeland led a balanced running attack with 10 rushes for 71 yards. It was Clinton’s second win over B-L in as many nights, as the Red Devil JV won 42-12 against the Junior Panthers Thursday in scrimmage action.
This coming Friday, Clinton plays its second consecutive road game, at Laurens, a 55-9 home loser to Hillcrest in the Raiders’ season-opener. Then, it’s 3 consecutive home games for Clinton: Sept. 1 hosting Newberry; Sept. 8 hosting Aiken for Homecoming; and Sept. 15 hosting Chapman for the 100th Anniversary of Clinton High Football commemorative game (calling ALL Red Devils to Wilder Stadium).
